Leo Vanderbyl’s Letter of the Weekwas bang on. About three years ago my husband had to spend two months in Royal Columbian Hospital. He was quarantined four times, not because he was infectious but because they didn’t want him to get the most recent outbreak that better hospital cleanliness would prevent. RCH was not clean.

Then I learned that Fraser Health, of which RCH is a part, was forced to pay the Pacific Carbon Trust Fund almost a million dollars in 2010. That money could have been spent on staff to clean the hospital. Carbon offsets are the biggest swindle since someone tried to sell the Brooklyn Bridge.

I’m not against the environment, but forcing hospitals and schools to buy carbon offsets is not going to clean up anything except taxpayers’ pockets.

Didn’t Hans Christian Andersen’s weavers make the same argument when they sold the Emperor a suit of “ new clothes?”

Norman Ruff, Victoria

Scrapping carbon trust would be a vote-getter

I commend letter-writer Leo Vanderbyl for his detailed letter, and wholeheartedly agree that the Carbon Tax and Trust scam unilaterally implemented by former premier Gordon Campbell that is taxing ordinary British Columbians while benefiting select corporations must be scrapped.

In fact, Premier Christy Clark could rise in the polls if she eliminated the PCT before the election, although the carbon-tax-industry officials will resist this loss of jobs.

It is outrageous that school boards and hospitals have been forced to shell out tens of millions of dollars to this trust when the money could be better spent.

Jiti Khanna, Vancouver

Baby Mary story was inspiring

In a world full of deceit, broken dreams, heartaches and corruption, your story about Baby Mary, the infant abandoned in Calgary in 1987, touched my heart and I thank you for restoring my faith in this world.

Kudos to Mary for her strength and her devotion.

Mike Weddell, Maple Ridge

Is mining safe with new B.C. government?

I would like to suggest something for the voters of B.C. to consider when deciding who to vote for in May: The current government has established a 20-per-cent refundable mining exploration tax credit, which, for pine beetle affected lands, increases to 30 per cent. This tax credit runs until Jan. 17, 2017, and it has already resulted in the best few years ever for investment in mineral exploration in B.C.

Not only has this tax credit resulted in exploration jobs for British Columbians, it has also resulted in increased business for motels, airlines, restaurants and a host of other small businesses that rely on mining exploration activity.

So, what happens if all of this comes to an end after May 14?

We can choose to maintain a strong mining exploration climate by voting for a government that supports the socio-economic well being and economic stability of our communities, or we can turn the clock back to a time when exploration investment, and the jobs it supports, went elsewhere. For me, it’s not a very hard choice to make and I know which one I will be making in May.

Our laws should be reformed so that there is only a crime if there is a victim. Vices are not crimes. Prohibitions on drugs, sex, gambling and other non-violent activities only serve to punish consenting activities.

Unlike legitimate laws that punish rape, violence, murder and theft, laws that prohibit drugs actually manufacture crime where there would be none if such laws did not exist. No one incarcerated in the prison I’m in would have been selling drugs or manufacturing drugs if those drugs were legal. Drug dealers wouldn’t exist if drugs were distributed by responsible manufacturers and sellers in a legal, regulated marketplace.

You can tell if a law is illegitimate if the “crime” increases with the passage of laws prohibiting that behaviour. Rape, murder, theft, arson and other obvious anti-social activities do not increase with laws that punish those actions.

The staff are contributing to a revolving door for many inmates, with release often resulting in new crimes and arrests.

Corrections staff are not there to administer punishment; they are there to support rehabilitation. The high rates of return and a lack of effectiveness of the programs are forcing inmates to take part in a system that will prolong their criminal lifestyles. That attitude does not make society safer.

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